We obsess over guest experience — reviews, service steps, hospitality language. But the most honest review of your restaurant already exists. It lives in your kitchen. On your floor. In your team. If your employee were allowed to leave a Google or Yelp review… what would it say? Flip the Lens Ask yourself the same questions you ask about guests: - What is their daily experience really like? - Do they feel welcomed when they walk in? - Are their needs heard and addressed? - Do they feel safe, supported, and respected? - Would they recommend working here to a friend? If a team member doesn’t feel like a happy guest, your dining room will never consistently feel that way either. The Employee Experience Is the Brand Guests feel what your team feels. - Burnout shows up as rushed service - Resentment shows up as indifference - Pride shows up as care - Trust shows up as consistency You can’t script hospitality if the culture behind it is broken. The Google Review Exercise Take 5 minutes and do this honestly: “I work here. Here’s what it feels like…” Rate yourself: - Leadership - Communication - Scheduling & balance - Growth & learning - Respect No defensiveness. No excuses. Just awareness. Practical Shifts That Matter You don’t need a wellness program. You need presence. - Greet your team like you greet your best guests - Check in before things break, not after - Listen without fixing immediately - Follow through — every time - Say thank you when no one is watching Hospitality starts internally. Your dining room is a reflection. Your food is a reflection. Your service is a reflection of you. If you want better reviews, better energy, better retention start by becoming a place your own team would five-star. Pre-Shift Question If your staff reviewed you today… would you read it with pride or defensiveness? Sit with that. Then lead differently.

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Why This Matters Most menus don’t fail because the food sucks. They fail because the process sucked. When we try to write a menu in one sitting, it turns into: - Too many voices at once - No paper trail - Great ideas that disappear - Hours burned with nothing finalized - Energy spent arguing instead of building I stopped doing that. I learned it’s easier—and better—to collaborate across time instead of trying to force magic in one meeting. Menus need space to marinate. How We Build Menus Now Instead of sitting in a room fighting through ideas, I: - Post concepts early - Let the team read through them - Allow comments, edits, and suggestions over time - Give people space to think, not react - Create conversation without chaos This does two things: 1. It creates clarity before emotion 2. It builds ownership before execution By the time we meet? We’re refining, not starting. Leadership isn’t collected in a meeting. It’s built in systems. Order of Operations: The Only Way to Roll Out a Menu. If you skip steps, you pay later. Here’s the exact order I follow every time: 1. Build the Menu on Paper First No cooking yet. No ordering yet. Just clarity. Write every dish: - Name - Components - Garnishes - Sauces - Accompaniments Nothing lives in your head. If it’s not written, it’s not real. 2. Create the Order Guide Build your purchasing backbone: - Vendor - Cost per pound - Cost per ounce - Case size - Yield notes You don’t cost a menu blindly. You cost it from the source. 3. Create Station Lists Every station gets: - A responsibility list - Items owned by that station - Prep expectations - Par levels Unassigned food = unowned food. 4. Diagram the Stations If your team can’t see the system, They can’t run it. Map: - Walk paths - Hot zones - Cold zones - Pickup flow - Garnish zones Work smarter, not sideways. 5. Write the Recipes Every dish gets: - Exact measurements - Yields - Steps - Storage - Shelf life - Reheating instructions

A restaurant is not just a business. It’s a live performance. Every single night. No curtain call. We talk about hospitality like it’s just a feeling. But the best restaurants don’t hope you have a good experience. They rehearse it. Look at your restaurant like a Broadway show: - Writers wrote the script. - Stagehands built the set. - Marketing sold the tickets. - Designers created the costumes. - The lighting and sound created the mood. But the service team? They’re the ones on stage. They’re the performance the guest actually sees. Every Role Plays a Part If a restaurant were theatre… The Writers The concept. The menu. The mission. This is the story we’re telling. The Stage Crew Dishwashers. Porters. Prep cooks. The people who reset the stage between scenes. The Set Designers Interior. Lighting. Plateware. Music. Scent. The details that quietly say, you’re somewhere special. The Costume Designers Uniforms. Aprons. Grooming. Presence. What your team wears tells the guest what kind of show they’re watching. Marketing They sold the ticket before the guest ever walked in. Chefs & General Managers Not the stars. The directors. It’s your job to: - Set the vision - Call the tempo - Correct the performance - Protect the culture - Demand rehearsals The Service Team. They are the show. Not just carrying plates. Delivering emotion. Every Shift Is Opening Night No guest wants to feel: - Rushed - Ignored - Confused - Like an inconvenience Guests come for more than food. They come for: - Belonging - Escape - Celebration - Healing - Connection A great server doesn’t “take an order.” They guide the guest through an experience. A great host doesn’t “seat people.” They set the tone. A great bartender doesn’t just “make drinks.” They change the mood of a night. Your Team Needs a Script. Not robotic. Not fake. But intentional. They should know: - How to greet - How to describe - How to recover after a mistake - How to read a table - How to close a night

Most restaurant business plans look good on paper. Very few survive service. The problem isn’t your concept. It’s what no one tells you happens after the ribbon cutting. This lesson isn’t about equipment lists and square footage. It’s about the invisible pressures, blind spots, and realities that actually decide whether your restaurant lives or dies. If you skip this, you’re not under-prepared — you’re vulnerable. 1. Your Real Product Isn’t Food. It’s Consistency. Everyone obsesses over the menu. What actually builds a restaurant is: - Repetition - Memory - Execution - Systems A great dish one night means nothing. The same dish, every night, for years — that’s a business. Ask yourself: - Can I cook this dish 1,000 times? - Can someone else cook it when I’m tired, sick, or gone? - Is this menu designed for ego… or execution? 2. You’re Not Opening a Restaurant. You’re Opening a Leadership Test. No pitch deck prepares you for: - Firing someone you care about - Working short staffed for weeks - Paying invoices before paying yourself - Being everyone’s emotional filter - Carrying pressure home every night The business doesn’t break most owners. The loneliness does. Ask yourself: - Do I want to cook… or lead? - Can I make hard calls without hardening? - Can I teach instead of control? 3. Your Budget Is Lying To You Most budgets forget: - Staff turnover costs - Menu reprints - Equipment failure - Emergency repairs - Soft openings that are not soft - Dead months - Burnout recovery - Your own health Your budget should scare you a little. If it doesn’t, it’s incomplete. Rule: If your numbers assume perfection — you’re planning for fiction. 4. Location Isn’t About Foot Traffic. It’s About Behavior. People don’t “discover” restaurants. They: - Return to habits - Follow convenience - Choose familiarity - Protect their budget Ask yourself: - Is this a destination… or a gamble? - Am I building for locals or tourists? - Will people drive here on a Tuesday or only on birthdays?